Not the Best Descriptor
by northern.poet
Summary: Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It's strange, what ends up being significant for the two of them.


"Oh come on. It won't be that bad."

Darcy balanced the phone between his shoulder and head, holding up bow ties in front of the mirror. "Yes, it will be. Now, what says 'don't talk to me' more: red or blue?"

"Blue," Gigi said, and Darcy could almost hear her rolling her eyes.

"I'll wear red then. Don't trust you." He set the phone down on the dresser, turning it on speakerphone as he tossed away the spare bow tie and began tying the red one. "It's a huge crowd of people that I don't know, in a town that already seems obnoxiously interested in our being here. Some college girl drove by the house yesterday and practically parked on the edge of the road to stare at us. I'll be lucky if I can get through the day without someone confessing their love for me. And my money."

"Good to see you're still as averse to theatrics as ever, big bro. Why don't you just wear that dumb newsboy hat. Then you'll look so weird that even your vast fortune won't be enough to make the ladies dance with you."

"Excuse me, but what exactly is so bad about that hat."

"Darce, I love you, and I even love your hipster fashion sense, but you've got to admit that the newsie look is one that not even you can pull off."

"I think I pull it off just fine, thank you very much." Darcy pulled out the hat in question, turning it over in his hands and then setting it on his head. He looked just fine in the hat. Dapper, even.

"Oh yeah? I bet if you wore that hat today you wouldn't be able to get even one woman to dance with you."

"I don't want even one woman to dance with me," Darcy muttered.

"So it's a win-win. And I get pictures of you wearing that ridiculous hat at a wedding. Win-win-win."

Darcy glowered at his reflection in the mirror, straightening his bow tie and adjusting the hat. Gigi wasn't exactly wrong when she said that it made him look a little bit obnoxious. But then, that was part of the reason he liked it. It was overpriced and snobby and most people didn't want to talk to overpriced and snobby, which was just fine by him. He found that whenever he tried to talk to people they mostly left with the word snobby on their tongues anyway, and he'd rather they think it from afar then whisper and laugh about it every time he tried to make conversation.

"Fine I'll wear the hat. But only because it looks good on me and you refuse to admit that."

Gigi laughed. "Dance with someone besides Caroline at the wedding, and then we'll talk."

"Put it on."

Darcy could do little more than stare at him. "Are you kidding me? After all that has happen in the last week you want me to put on that idiotic hat."

Fitz smiled wryly at him. "I thought you loved this hat."

"Well," Darcy said, "surprisingly, I am not so fond of it anymore."

Fitz sighed, walking over to wear Darcy was leaning dejectedly against the railing. "Listen, Darce, she doesn't hate you because of the hat."

"No, she hates me because I'm thoughtless and unfeeling and overly proud. I am well aware of the reasons she hates me, Fitz. She made a handy playlist of them all for me. But the hat isn't exactly a pleasant reminder of all the fun times we've had."

"Okay, but you know you aren't just those things. That's just the only side of you she's gotten to see. You made a bad first impression and it stuck with her. So you can either spend your time feeling bad about an encounter that you can't really do anything about, or try to make sure that the next time you see her you'll make a better impression."

Darcy raised an eyebrow, doing his best to look uncaring. "Next time? I somehow doubt we will be running into each other much. In fact, something tells me she will probably go out of her way to avoid it."

"Don't be such a pessimist. You never know what might happen. Anyway, you told me yourself that you wanted to...how did you put it? Attend to her reproofs? If you want to make yourself better you might as well do it with a bit of hope." Fitz paused, waving the hat in front of Darcy. "And maybe a smile."

Darcy took the hat from him, turning it over in his hands. "Do you think she'll laugh at me, if she sees the picture?"

Fitz looked thoughtful. "I think it will make her smile. And laughter isn't always a bad thing, you know."

Darcy put the hat on with a sigh. "It would be nice to see that smile for myself."

"You terrible sap. Maybe you will."

"You're sure about this?"

"Perhaps considering what happened last time I told you I was sure about something, I shouldn't use those words. But tell me, Bing, do you still have feelings for her?"

Bing looked up from the pile of shirts he was currently packing into his suitcase. "Do you think I ever stopped? I took your advice because you're my friend and I trust you, but I left Netherfield with a broken heart, not relief."

Darcy sighed, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Then I would ask you trust me again, when I tell you I was a completely idiot for separating you and Jane."

"Well," said Bing with a laugh, "that's not the sort of thing I usually hear from you."

"I've been trying to own up to some of my faults lately." Darcy flattened out the last shirt in his own suitcase, squaring everything away cleanly. "Which is not always easy. But admitting my mistake about you and Jane is not one of things I am struggling with right now. I don't think there are two people in world that love each other more honestly, or deserve each other more."

Bing stared at Darcy thoughtfully. "Maybe. But I don't think I'm the only one happy to be going back to Netherfield."

Darcy returned his stare, with only the hint of a smile. "Yes, I'm sure Caroline is thrilled as well." He paused, halfway through zipping up his suitcase. "Oh I almost forgot the hat!"

"The...hat?" Bing raised his eyebrows.

Darcy grabbed his newsboy hat from the stand, waving it triumphantly.

"Seriously? That hat? It was bad enough when you wore it to the wedding, do you have to bring it to Netherfield again?"

Darcy placed it on top of the stack of shirts, zipping the suitcase up. "I've sort of gotten attached to it. It helps remind me of certain things."

"Well you're being awfully cryptic today. Everything alright?"

"You know, I think that this time it might be.," Darcy replied, checking himself in the mirror one last time. "It just might be."

Bing shook his head. "Have I ever told you that you are very strange?"

"Yes you have. Now. Let's go get you a girlfriend."

"Do you have it?"

Jane smiled, handing over the hat and bow tie. "I'm not in charge of dealing with mom's reaction to this."

Lizzie stuck out her tongue. "Somehow I don't think mom will have much to complain about, after today." Putting on the hat and clipping on the bow tie, Lizzie turned back to face Darcy, who was looking equally silly in her flannel shirt. He gave her an awkward smile, and she could see his face melt into that same loving look that she had grown to know so well.

"Ready?"

He nodded as Lizzie handed him her paper, giving her his own paper in return. Darcy cleared his throat. "William Darcy," he said, looking down at the page in his hand, filled with Lizzie's neat writing. Lizzie herself was waiting patiently for him to keep reading. He had thought that she would look comical, in her wedding dress with that silly hat and bow tie. But looking at her now, he just thought she looked more herself, more beautiful, than ever. Who'd have thought that Lizzie Bennet would be the one to pull off the newsie hat.

"You are one of the kindest people I have ever known," he continued, smiling broadly, "and you have helped make me a better person. When I see you I can barely believe that there was a time when I didn't know you, or didn't like you. My life has lead to you in the strangest way, and there have been plenty of odd coincidences along the way. But I don't want to rely on luck any more. I promise to be by your side for the rest of my life, to love you with all of my heart, and to never let anyone's better judgement get in the way." Darcy laughed softly at that, looking up to see Lizzie's smile. "I will cherish you with all my heart, until the end."

Darcy looked up from the page, barely able to keep himself from kissing her right then and there. It was enough that she was about to marry him, but reading words like that from her was more than he had ever dreamed of.

Now it was Lizzie's turn. She straightened the bow tie and cleared her throat. "Lizzie Bennet," she said, nodding once in Darcy's direction. "Before I met you, I lived most of my life assuming that I already had everything I could want. I'm now happy to report that I couldn't have been more wrong." She blushed slightly, glancing up at him. "Lizzie, you are more than the world should be able to offer in one person. You are a brilliant woman and I don't think I will ever get used to the thrill of being able to call you my wife, or be called your husband. I promise to spend my life learning from you and growing with you." Lizzie swallowed, on the edge of tears. "I will love you until the day I die. I don't think my heart could be happy doing anything less than that."

Lizzie folded up Darcy's vows, reaching out to clasp his hands. He couldn't think of anything more perfect than this strange mess of a wedding. He had watched her repeat their first meeting a hundred times, in that same outfit, each time regretting the fact that those were the words he had left her with. Decent enough. How could he ever think such a thing about her? But now it felt like coming to a close, like finally fixing that mistake.

He hadn't said anything to her about it yet, but Darcy was pretty sure he'd won his bet with Gigi.


End file.
